Septimus
by Ira4
Summary: This is a sequel to "Everything and Nothing". Amanda works on a big case. Final chapter is up.
1. Chapter 1

I don't own anything that Dick Wolf owns.

This is a sequel to "Everything and Nothing". If you don't feel like reading it then all you need to know is that Amanda is in homicide now.

* * *

Amanda felt satisfied, not only because she was lying next to Nick, who was panting just as hard as she was, but also because she was in a good place.

She has been working in homicide for more than eight months now, and she loved it.

Her squad made her feel welcomed and she felt she could trust them.

And things with Nick were great. Liv said she was suspicious but wasn't sure. Fin acted a bit hurt after they told him that they are together, but he was happy for them. And they did manage to hang out sometimes.

"What are you thinking about?" Nick asked and moved closer to her so he could kiss her neck.

"Nothing" she smiled "I forgot"

"What?" he asked, his lips still touching her neck.

"I was distracted" she answered and he looked at her with that smile that made her knees weak.

"I hope you're saying that I'm a distraction"

"Maybe" she bit her lip a little and he just had to have it between his lips.

* * *

It wasn't even 6 am when the phone rang.

"I think it's yours" Nick whispered as Amanda stirred and reached for her phone.

"Rollins" she answered "okay, I'm on my way" she answered after only few moments. She was about to get up when Nick grabbed her arm softly "you've got to go?" his voice was a bit groggy but he got up and kissed her.

She smiled at him "I'll see you later" she kissed him again, letting the kiss deepen, but she had to pull away.

* * *

"Rollins, thanks for showing up" she heard her partner, detective Damien Bennett, say. It was a little private joke between the two of them, that was the way the first detective on the scene gritted the other.

"How's it going?" she asked him.

"It's a gruesome one" he said "I mean it" they walked together to the body and Amanda had to agree.

The man was lying in a pool of blood, some of it was congealed. He had a gun shot but also a few cuts on his arm.

The coroner was talking to one of the SCU guys but came over to them when they were done "I think it's safe to say the COD is loss of blood. The bullet hit an artery, he's been dead for 5 or 6 hours"

"The cuts?" Amanda asked.

"Pretty shallow, I'll tell you more once we clean him up, we're moving him soon so I hope SCU can find the bullet"

"Thanks doc" Bennett said and turned to Amanda "they didn't find the ID yet, no wallet on him"

Amanda studied the scene, it was an alley, must have been pretty dark 5 or 6 hours ago. What was he doing there? it wasn't a known place to get drugs, nor was it a place where you could find a working girl.

"Found the wallet" she heard one on the SCU guys say and she went over there.

"Jeffery Campbell" Bennett said when he took the wallet and looked inside "less than 40 bucks, still could be a robbery" he looked at her and gave her the wallet.

"He doesn't live far from here" she said after looking at the ID "Looks like we're going to have to deliver some bad news" she said as she took out a small picture of a woman holding a little baby girl.

* * *

Even though the victims couldn't talk, their families could. And it was tough every time.

This was no exception. Jeffery Campbell's wife was devastated. She told them her husband called her last night, said his car was stuck and he was going to get a cub to go home, he asked her to go to sleep and that they'd see each other in the morning.

"When did he call?" Amanda asked.

"I'm not sure, I'll check my phone" she answered, but when she reached for it she started crying again and just handed it to Amanda. There was a picture of them together on the screen. She checked the last incoming call, almost half past eleven pm.

"I'm so sorry Mrs. Campbell" Bennett said "We will do everything we can to catch who did this"

She nodded without looking at him. They heard a cry from another room and she said it was her daughter.

"I'll get a BOLO for the car" Bennett said as they left the house.

* * *

They didn't have to wait too long for news about the car. It was parked not far from the alley. It looked clean though.

"So his car breaks down here" Amanda said "he calls his wife at 23:30 and tried to find a cub"

Bennett nodded "maybe he waited here, but he couldn't get one so he started walking, the alley is probably 30 minutes from here"

"So if he waits here for about 30 minutes and 30 minutes till he's close to the alley. 12:30, that's about the time of death"

"Okay, that means the killer didn't spend a lot of time with him. He shoots him, maybe leaves some of the money just to throw us off…"

"But what about the cuts?" Amanda asked "They were pretty fresh"

"You think it's personal?"

"I don't know, we still don't know if they were made post mortem, but why would you cut someone you just shot? If it's a robbery why spend more time with the body?"

"Yeah" he agreed "We should get back, see if Weiss has something"

* * *

When Amanda was transferred to homicide she thought she would be partnered with Aaron Weiss. But she ended up working with Bennett while Weiss was working without a partner, or, they way he put it, being the third wheel to them.

And Amanda liked working with Bennett. He was about 10 years older than her, and that's pretty much the time he's been working in homicide. They got along well, he was a good guy. He'd met Nick a few times, and invited her to his house which he shared with his husband, who was a chef so they enjoyed really good leftovers often.

She was honest about her gambling addiction. She told the captain before she accepted the offer, and she told Weiss and Bennett shortly after they started working with her.

* * *

Weiss did have something to share with them when they got back. He asked ballistics to rush the results on the bullet they ended up finding and they got a match.

"Remember the body we found a week ago?"

"The homeless guy?" Bennett asked, looking at the ballistics report.

"The bullets came from the same gun"

"Let me get the file" Amanda said. The body of the homeless man was found a week ago, but there were no evidence, no witnesses, no ID, no one claimed the body. They had nothing.

She opened the file and read the coroners report "look at this" she said and showed them the photos in the file "cuts, less then on Campbell's body, but they look similar"

"They are cuts" Bennett sounded doubtful "and I'm sure this guy could have gotten them so many other ways"

"If you consider him being shot by the same gun, it could have been the same knife" Weiss pointed out.

"So I guess the robbery theory is off the table" Bennett said "you think they are connected?" He looked at Amanda.

"I'll talk to the wife again" She answered "maybe she knows something"

* * *

But Campbell's wife didn't know anything that could connect her husband to the homeless man. He worked a lot, and that's where he was coming from that night, and spent most of his free time with his family.

They were stuck, they couldn't find anything out of the ordinary about Campbell's life. And they couldn't find anything at all about the homeless man.

The coroners report didn't help much. Nothing conclusive about the cuts. Looked like this case was going cold too.

* * *

Amanda unlocked the door to her apartment. She was tired and she couldn't wait to take a shower and spend the rest of the evening with Nick. He gritted her with a smile when he saw her. "Hey" he said but she didn't have time to answer because her phone rang.

"Rollins" she answered "what? Damn it, a third one? I'll be right there" she hang up and gave Nick an apologetic smile.

* * *

She arrived at the scene at the exact time as Bennett. Weiss and the captain were already there. The media was there too.

"Well Rollins" Bennett looked at her "welcome to your first serial killer case in homicide"

They had no doubt it was the same perpetrator even before they got the ballistics report. There was one gun shot and cuts on the body, just like with the other victims. But again, no witnesses. They processed the scene but there was almost nothing that helped them.

* * *

Back at the precinct they tried to go over everything they had.

"So he's escalating" Bennett said "a week after the first victim and one day after the second one"

"I'm looking at anything with the similar MO" Amanda was going through their database.

Weiss's phone rang, it was the ballistics lab, with this case having priority they got the results fast. It was the same gun.

They were in for a long night, but nothing seemed to stand out. The victims had nothing in common.

They figured it wasn't about the victims, they were just there at the wrong time. So they had to try and understand the killer. But what can you say about a person who killed 3 people with one gun shot and left a few shallow cuts on them? Why was he doing it?

* * *

They stayed up almost all night trying to make sense of it. Due to the fact he was escalating they knew there wasn't much time. And they were right.

It was early when they got the call and they rushed to the scene. A woman had been shot, but she got lucky and the ambulance got to her just in time. By the time they got to the scene she wasn't there but Amanda and Bennett made sure not to miss a square inch of the scene.

And then they heard a scream.

They looked at each other for a second and ran towards the sound with their guns pulled.

"You okay?" Bennett asked the woman who was lying on the ground, she looked shaken but they couldn't see any blood.

She shook her head but said she was fine.

"What happened?" Amanda asked as Bennett helped her get up slowly.

"This guy, he had a gun, I think he wanted to shoot me, but I screamed and he ran away"

"Where did he go?" the woman pointed somewhere 'what was he wearing?"

"A black T-shirt, with long sleeves, and blue pants, not jeans, I'm not sure, I'm sorry" she was tearing up.

"It's alright, wait here" Amanda told the woman, we'll call one of the officers to escort you to get checked up" the woman nodded and Amanda looked at Bennett "lets go".

"And a baseball cap, I remember he had one" the woman shouted as they ran.

* * *

Amanda hoped they could catch him, they were running and looking for him when suddenly Amanda spotted someone who fit the description.

"Bennett" she said and pointed with her gun. He nodded and they approached quietly. The man was standing on the street with his back to them, he was the only one there and when they got closer Bennett shouted "NYPD, do not move!"

He didn't even turn around before he started running.

"Crap" Bennett muttered as they took off after him. He tried to shout again but it didn't work. He kept on running. Before he could shoot, the man ran into a different street, there were more people there and they couldn't risk it but kept going after him.

He was fast, but they kept going after him. When he turned again to a smaller street Bennett took the shot, but he missed, the man got behind a car and shot once, they couldn't even see him, so they took cover and shot at his direction.

"NYPD" Amanda shouted "get out with your hands up"

But he didn't, he shot them again and they fired back. But then it was quiet. Amanda and Bennett looked at each other and she nodded as she got up slowly. She couldn't see anything so she got closer.

She approached the car slowly, her gun was raised. Bennett was right behind her.

"Well shit" she said and rolled her eyes.

The man was gone.

* * *

The scene was swarming with officers after only a few minutes. They figured he crawled behind the parked cars.

"This is just great" the captain said "the media is going to have a field day with this"

"Come on captain" Amanda said.

"Rollins, I know you are all trying your best, we don't know who we're dealing with, but the media is going to ask a lot of questions and I am the one who's going to answer them" he looked at her and than at Bennett "so this is what we're going to do. You are going to the hospital straight away, you'll talk to the victim if she is awake, but before that you have to have a blood test, I don't want someone to have any reason to judge any of this, so we are going to make sure none of you is drunk" they gave him a look and he added "it's just for the record, you know how these things can get"

* * *

Nick and Fin were at the hospital. They just finished interviewing a victim when Fin spotted Bennett "isn't that Amanda's partner?" he asked.

"Yeah" Nick answered, wondering what he was doing there, he didn't see Amanda but hoped she was there. She called him last night to say she wasn't coming home soon and he missed her.

Being a detective himself he knew how it works. The long hours, not a lot of free time, so he understood. And she did too. It was nice not to argue about work, it left time for other things, better things. There was no bitterness, no one felt left out, they could just be together and it felt good.

Still he missed her so he went to talk to Bennett to see if she was there with him.

"Damien" he said "everything okay?"

"Nick" Bennett smiled at him "and Fin, right?"

"Yeah man, how's it going?" Fin asked.

"Tough case" he answered "I bet you know how it is"

"We sure do" Nick smiled.

"Our captain asked us to have a blood test, just to make sure we're not drunk" he chuckled a bit "Amanda should be out soon" he told Nick as he could see that's what he wanted to know.

"Speak of the devil" Fin smiled when he saw Amanda walking out of a room.

"Fin!" she smiled and hugged him, and then gave even a bigger smile to Nick, which didn't go unnoticed by the other men "you guys here for a case?" she asked.

"We were on our way out when we saw your new guy here" Fin joked "it's not the same with out you Amanda"

"I miss you too Fin" she smiled and squeezed his arm a bit "we've got to go interview a witness" she said.

Fin and Bennett moved a bit to give them a moment alone. Amanda smiled at him and slightly touched his arm "will I see you tonight?" he asked quietly.

"I really hope so" she let go and he smiled at her "I should go" she said.

* * *

"Ms. Stamp, how are you doing" Amanda asked the woman in the bed. She was going to be fine, the EMTs stopped the bleeding in time.

"I've been better" she smiled.

"What can you tell us about what happened?"

"I was walking and I have this short cut through the alley, and he was there, he had a knife and a gun and, I, I didn't know what to do, he got closer to me and I thought maybe he wanted money. He didn't say anything at first, just got closer and closer and I had to move to the wall" she had tears in her eyes as she was talking "and he took the knife and cut me" she showed them the cut "I barely felt it, and then he said something and then he shot me" she said the last part with the tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Do you remember what he said?" Bennett asked.

"It was his name, he said his name was Optimus"

* * *

They asked her to talk to a sketch artist and she agreed. They had to go and take the blood results as the hospital said they will be rushed.

"Optimus?" Bennett asked "like from the TV show and the movie? Optimus Prime" he laughed "maybe he's some kind of a robot?"

"Maybe that's how he got away behind the cars and we didn't notice" she smiled.

The nurse came out with the results of Bennett's blood test. No alcohol.

"Detective Rollins" she said "the doctor would like to talk to you about your test, he'll call you in a moment"

Bennett gave her a puzzled look "maybe you shouldn't have drunk all that vodka this morning" he smiled.

"I knew you spiked my drink" she grinned.

The doctor called her and asked her to sit "detective everything is fine" he said as he could see she looked a bit worried "no alcohol in your blood. But there is something else" he looked at her.

* * *

"I'm sorry, what?" She asked the doctor. She was pretty sure she heard wrong but he repeated the same thing.

"You're pregnant detective" she wanted to ask again but didn't want the doctor to think she had a hearing problem. She realized he was still talking, but she didn't pay attention and only heard something about setting up an appointment.

"Detective?" he asked when she didn't answer.

"Yes? Yes of course" she smiled. What was he talking about, pregnant?

"Are you alright detective?" he could see she was a little pale and poured her a glass of water "from the look on your face I'm not sure if I should congratulate you, but whatever it is I'm sure you'll be okay" he smiled and she got up slowly.

Pregnant.


	2. Chapter 2

I don't own anything that Dick Wolf owns.

* * *

She told Bennett the doctor said she had low iron levels. She couldn't think of anything else to say, she wasn't going to tell him the truth right now, not before she told Nick.

Nick.

What would he say, they didn't talk about it. Did he want another kid? Did she want one?

Her mind was racing and she knew she had to focus on the case.

"So while you were in there Weiss called and said they found something, a piece of paper close to the car. It got wet but they are checking it in the lab right now. Oh, and the sketch artist is on his way"

"They put a rush on everything, ha?" she smiled at him.

"Oh, the wonderful world of serial killers"

* * *

"We got something" Weiss said when Amanda and Bennett got back "take a look" he gave them a file.

"That's the paper you found near the car?"

"Yeah, the lab managed to find something. They couldn't figure out the writing, it's completely smudged, but the logo…" They looked at it "The Tranquil Sun".

Amanda and Bennett looked at each other, they had no idea what that meant but Weiss didn't keep them hanging "it's a private facility, for mental illnesses"

"So our perp is a mental patient?" Bennett asked.

"You two will check that out tomorrow, take the sketch and see what they have to say"

* * *

Nick was watching TV and drinking a beer, Frannie was on the floor next to the couch. When Amanda walked in the apartment Frannie ran to her.

"Come here girl" she said and patted her "I missed you" she looked at Nick and smiled.

She sat next to him and leaned in to kiss him "and I missed you too"

"Heard about your case, how's it going?"

"We may have something" she said, hoping this does lead to finding some answers.

Nick gave her another kiss, she looked tired and just leaned on the couch close to him. He offered her his beer and she took the bottle.

She was about to take a sip when she remembered.

"You okay?" Nick asked when he saw she was staring at the bottle.

"Just tired" she put it on the table and leant in to him. He moved to make her more comfortable and she laid her head on his chest. She knew she had to tell him, but she felt her eyelids becoming heavier and she fell asleep.

* * *

Amanda woke up in her bed. It took her a moment to remember what happened the night before. Well, what didn't happen. She figured Nick carried her to bed after she fell asleep on the couch. Nick was still asleep next to her and she decided to take a long shower.

The warm water felt so good she didn't want to get out. After a while Nick came into the bathroom "hey" he said, she didn't hear him come in and jumped a bit when he said that "sorry, you okay?" he walked to the shower as she turned it off, he handed her a towel and smiled.

"I'm alright" she grinned at him as she dried her hair.

She wrapped the towel around her body while Nick went to the sink to brush his teeth. But Amanda didn't walk out, she stared at him and when he was done she walked over and wrapped her arms around his body. She gave him a little kiss on his back and just held on to him. He turned around after a moment and caressed her cheek gently.

They kissed for a long time, and when they pulled apart for air Nick asked her if she felt like another shower, he had a naughty look in his eyes and a smiled to match it. She nodded and they kissed as they made their way to the shower.

After that second shower they were at the kitchen, drinking coffee. Amanda was checking her phone, she got a text from Bennett.

"What does it say?" Nick asked.

She showed him the message "Be there in 30, don't have breakfast"

"Don't have breakfast?" he said curiously.

"I hope it means he's bringing something from the restaurant"

"Hey, I just made you a toast" he tried to look insulted.

"Don't be jealous" she said smiling "you know I love your toast"

* * *

30 minutes later Bennett was there and Amanda got into the car. He handed her a paper bag with two sandwiches.

"This is from Sam" he said "he wants me to invite you to dinner again"

"I'd love to come" she said and took a bite "I like Sam, and his food"

"Why do you think I married him?" he grinned.

"The question is why did he marry you" she smiled.

* * *

The Tranquil Sun was about an hour away. It wasn't very big but there was a large garden and the place did have a tranquil feel to it. They walked in and introduced themselves to the girl at the reception, they asked to talk to the person in charge and she called someone on the phone.

They waited for a few minutes until the doctor got there.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Marent" she said.

"Detectives Rollins and Bennett" they showed her their badges as Bennett added "Manhattan homicide"

"Oh, how can I help?" She asked, a bit worried.

"We wonder if maybe you could look at something" Amanda said "we have a sketch and we would like to know if you recognize this man" she handed her the sketch.

The doctor looked at it for a moment "yes I recognize this man" she said "but you know I can't give you any information about him"

"So he is a patient here?" Bennett asked.

"Was, his name is Warren…"

"Smith?" Amanda asked, the name just popped up to her head, it surprised her, until she realized why she thought about it.

Bennett gave her a surprised look. The doctor seemed a bit surprised, but then smiled and said "yes, Warren Smith"

"But he is not a patient here anymore?" Amanda asked.

"I'm afraid not"

"Is there anything you can tell us about him?" Bennett asked.

"You know I can't, I'm sorry, but I can give you his address, he lives with his parents"

"That would be great, thank you"

"Don't tell me you knew who did it all this time" Bennett said when they walked out "I know Smith is a common name but did you just guess?"

"Kind of" she replied "I don't think he said he's name was Optimus" she looked at him, for a moment he forgot what she was talking about but then remembered the woman who was shot.

"I think it was Septimus" she said.

"What?" Bennett was confused.

"Septimus Warren Smith"

"Should I know who that is?" he asked as he opened the car's door.

"It's from a book" Amanda answered as she sat down.

"At least it's not a robot" he said.

* * *

When they got to Smith's parents house they looked at each other, it was a walking distance from all of the crime scenes.

They introduced themselves to the woman who opened the door and she let them in.

"Mrs. Smith, we have few questions about Warren" Bennett said.

"Warren? Is he alright?" She asked.

A man came out of one of the rooms "what's going on?" he asked.

"These are detectives, they are here about Warren" she looked worried.

"Are you his father?" Bennett asked.

"I am, what is it?"

"When was the last time you've seen him?"

"About an hour ago" Mrs. Smith answered and Amanda looked at Bennett.

"Why are you here? Warren is a good guy, never got in to trouble"

"I'm afraid he might be in trouble" Amanda said "we need to talk to him"

"Trouble? No, that's not my Warren" Mrs. Smith shook her head and looked at her husband.

"I understand…" Amanda started but was cut off.

"No, he is good, he'd never hurt anyone"

"Mrs. Smith" Amanda tried again "we came here from the tranquil sun, we know he was a patient there"

"You think he's crazy?" she whispered "you all think he is crazy"

"We just need to talk to him" Bennett said.

"Well I'm not going to say anything, you won't listen" her voice was louder and she was angry.

"No, we want to help Warren" Amanda got closer to Mrs. Smith "have you noticed anything different lately? Like he's not the same?" she could see something in her eyes.

"What do you mean different?" she asked Amanda.

"We think Warren believes he's someone else" she replied.

"They have a point" Mr. Smith said and they all looked at him.

"What was he diagnosed with? Amanda asked, but neither of them said anything "it's schizophrenia, isn't it?"

Mrs. Smith nodded "but he was doing fine, he was at the tranquil sun and he was doing good, but we couldn't afford it so we had to bring him back"

"And how was he doing?"

"Fine"

"But something changed" Amanda looked at the father, he nodded "tell us about it"

"We sent him to a new doctor" he said "but I don't know, I didn't like him"

"He told us he could help" Mrs. Smith added.

"Can I have his information" Bennett asked. The mother went to the kitchen and gave him a card.

"What was different about Warren?"

"I think he was more restless, but he didn't seem dangerous, our son is not a dangerous man"

"Where can we find him?"

"He has a map, he walks in the same area each day, it's in his room" Mr. Smith told them and showed them to the room.

The room was tidy, nothing lying on the floor. They looked around for a moment as he took out the map.

Amanda looked at the desk "Bennett" she called and lifted a book, Mrs. Dalloway, "when did he get this?" Amanda asked Mr. Smith.

"About a week and a half ago" he answered and gave Bennett the map "he's been using this map for years, there's a different color for each day. Today it's green".

They looked at it, all the other scenes matched.

* * *

They called Weiss and informed him about everything. He would check the doctor but told them to search for Smith. They put a BOLO on him and drove.

"So what do you think?" Bennett asked.

"I don't know, suddenly he loses it? People with schizophrenia are not violent just because they have it"

"Clearly he is"

"But he wasn't before, something must have happened" she looked at him.

"What? He read Mrs. Dalloway? Come on"

"I don't know, he's been doing fine for years and suddenly kills? Just like that?" she saw the look on his face "don't say it" she told him.

"Say what?"

"Don't say he's crazy"

"I wasn't going to"

"Aha" she doubted.

They were driving in circles for a while, trying to spot him. After about 15 minutes Amanda thought she saw something.

"Look" she pointed at someone "I think that's him"

Bennett parked the car and Amanda got out "let them know" she said as she made her way towards Smith.

* * *

She ran to his direction but he saw her and tried to get away. She looked back for a moment to see that Bennett was a bit behind her and kept on running after Smith.

He was running down the street but all of the sudden cut into a building. It looked half deserted, Amanda didn't know what to expect but she also wasn't going to let him get away again. She ran after him hoping Bennett was right behind.

From the noises she heard she figured he was going up the stairs so she followed. She ran the entire way up until she heard a heavy door open. He was heading to the roof. She couldn't see Bennett and he didn't answer when she called, but Amanda couldn't wait. She ran to the door and opened it. She walked through it and than heard a loud thump as it closed, she tried to open it again but it was locked.

She looked around, searching for Warren, her gun was drawn. She walked slowly, until she spotted him in one of the corners. He saw her and pointed his gun at her.

"Warren" she said.

"My name is Septimus" he answered.


	3. Chapter 3

I don't own anything that Dick Wolf owns.

Amanda's thoughts were racing, she was on that roof alone with a dangerous man, even if she believed he didn't use to be violent, she had to think about who he was now.

She was alone, she couldn't get out of there

And she was pregnant. Amanda realized that she'd forgotten about it until now. What was she thinking.

But she knew she had to focus.

She tried to read him, but it wasn't easy. His face was blank, empty. She tried to slowly get closer to him

"Warren" she said "my name is detective Amanda Rollins, I'm here to help you"

"No, no, no" he shook his head a little.

"it's okay" she tried to sound calm, he started to move a bit "I met your parents, they told me that you are a good person, so why don't you give me the gun and we walk out of here" she took a breath and added "everything will be alright, just give me the gun"

"I can't give it to you, no, no, I can't. I need it" he walked back a little, but then moved forward again.

"I'm sure you can Warren…"

"No" he shouted "I am Septimus, that is my name"

"No, Septimus is made of thoughts and imagination and ink and you, you are made of bones and flesh and…"

"Blood, that is what they want" he laughed a little.

"Who wants blood?"

"They, I can hear them asking for it" he was almost whispering that "can you hear?"

"Why don't you listen to my voice then, I won't ask for blood"

"But I gave it to them, they won, I don't have any blood to give, now they want me to leave"

"No Warren, you don't have to leave. I can help you, the voices will stop"

She could see he was getting frantic, his eyes were moving fast.

"Septimus" she said and it seemed to make his eyes stop moving and focus on her "you have to listen to me, I am real and I want to make it better"

"Like they do?" he asked, she could hear some bitterness in his voice.

"Who? The voices?" he shook his head, suddenly looking very tired, she thought he was lowering his gun so she got a bit closer to him.

But when he saw that he raised it again "no, no, no" he said "they, they think, but they don't…"

What was he talking about? Was this about the book? About someone in his life? Both?

"Tell me about them" she asked.

"I can't, they will stop me, they are trying to" he looked down for a moment and then back at her. Suddenly his eyes looked clear "I must leave" he said.

"Then lets go down the stairs" Amanda suggested but he shook his head.

"I must leave like I must leave"

She knew what he was talking about, if he felt like he was Septimus then he was going to leave like he did and Amanda didn't want that to happen.

"There are no windows here" she tried.

He smiled at her "but this is just a frameless window" he gestured at the ledge.

"Warren, look at me" she said "I know who you are, you are not him, the voices lie, you don't need to give them any blood"

"I can't give them any more blood, I don't have any" he said.

"How did you give it to them?" she asked, hoping he'll say something that made sense so she could get his gun.

He looked at her, then at her gun "like you do" he whispered.

Then she realized what he was talking about, the gun, he used it to get the blood, but couldn't anymore because...

He didn't have any bullets left.

She hoped she was right, but didn't have time to hesitate anymore as he seemed lost again and she was afraid he would jump. She lowered her gun and put it back in its place.

"Warren" she said as she walked closer to him "there is no more blood, the voices won't ask you for it anymore, and you don't have to give it to them even if they do" she was standing right in front of the gun now.

"Don't" he whispered.

But she didn't listen, she slowly raised her hands and put them on the gun, she was looking straight into his eyes and started lowering it.

"Let it go Warren" she said softly "it's alright"

He let the gun go and she put it on the ground. She took her handcuffs out "I'm sorry Warren, but it's for now, you will get all the help you need"

But he looked terrified, he took a step backwards and turned around, he was about to run to the ledge but Amanda was faster.

She jumped on him and dropped him to the floor "I'm sorry Warren" she said as she cuffed him. She pulled him with her as she got up and took out her phone.

7 missed calls, she must have left in on mute. She called Bennett right away and he sounded furious. She assured him she was fine and told him where they were.

* * *

When they got back to the precinct something was going on.

Weiss was on the phone and looked very serious, the captain's door was closed but they could see someone else was in there. Amanda and Bennett gave each other a questioning look.

Amanda brought Warren to the interrogation room.

"I'm sorry" she said when she cuffed his hands to the desk "I'll call your parents, do you want anything to eat or drink?"

He didn't say anything and she walked out.

"Good job Rollins" Weiss said when she got to her desk, she smiled at him "so listen to this" he continued "turns out the good doctor is under investigation with the FDA"

"You've got to be kidding" Bennett said but Weiss shook his head.

"Turns out they are investigating him for providing unapproved drugs for mental patients"

"Damn it" Amanda whispered.

"They couldn't prove it though, since the patients were not cooperating, but they already sent an agent"

Is that who's in the office with the captain?" Bennett asked looking other there.

"Yeah, they are hoping this could lead to something"

"Crap" Amanda looked at her desk "so now Warren's parents are going to find out that their son was probably taking part in some experiment without them knowing and…" she suddenly got quiet.

"What?" Bennett asked.

"They did say something changed lately, what if that's it? What if this drug changes something in his thinking?"

"Maybe, but what should we do? We can't just let him go"

"I'm not saying that, he needs help, we can't be sure if he can go back to the way he was before"

"The families of the people he killed are not going to get their old lives back" Bennett said.

"No, no one won't" Amanda sighed. She called Warren's parents and asked them to come to the station. The FDA agents wanted to talk to them first. They agreed to help the investigation. Warren was going to be hospitalized, it was part of the deal.

It was hard for everyone involved. It wasn't Amanda's first tough case and it wouldn't be the last. But sometimes it hurt. And she really felt like talking to Nick.

* * *

Amanda wanted to talk to Nick. But she wasn't sure what to say. A part of her wanted to just be close to him, not to say a word, just to be together.

But she couldn't really do that. Not before telling him about the pregnancy.

She was pregnant.

It still didn't make sense. She didn't have time to think about it most of the day and now she couldn't think about anything else.

She was pregnant.

Amanda loved kids, she was pretty good with them too, but they were never hers. Most of the kids she met were somehow involved in a case. She had to admit she was scared. She was scared of having a child. She would have to be a mother and she did not have a very good role model.

Sure, her mom tried, but most of the time she didn't. And Amanda needed to take care of her mom and of Kim. But it didn't teach her to be a mother. The only thing she learned from it was that the people who're supposed to love you the most will hurt you the most. And Kim proved that to her. And so did her mother.

Amanda knew she loved them, but sometimes she thought it was all too much for her, having two daughters. She always made Amanda feel like it was her fault, like being born was something Amanda did to hurt her, to stop her life.

Still, Amanda tried to help and protect her mother, especially after her father left. She remembered telling herself it was only temporary, it will be okay when he comes back. But he didn't, and it wasn't okay. But she got used to it.

She got used to her mother bringing guys, often shady looking, to the house. It never ended well. She remembered her mother crying her eyes out lying on the kitchen floor. She remembered her screaming, about nothing, just words.

And Amanda took it, she tried to be strong, for herself and for Kim, who didn't seem to be rattled by this behavior.

Growing up Amanda started to build a wall between them, tried to spend less time at home. She wanted her mom to get help but when she mentioned it her mother would get angry. And Amanda was tired of it.

She tried to focus more on school, started thinking about colleges. She still took care of Kim, who seemed to follow her mothers foot steps and got in to trouble a lot.

In college Amanda had this feeling she couldn't explain. She felt like she didn't have to worry all of the time, she felt like she wasn't in charge of anyone but herself, she felt like she had options, she wasn't home.

She was free.

But she also knew it wasn't going to last. Kim would call her when she got in trouble, and her mom did too. But her mother wasn't happy even when she showed up to help. There was always something wrong. Amanda didn't want to fight, sometimes she just took it and sometimes she just left. Always coming back knowing nothing was going to change.

She tried to change though, she worked hard to get good grades, made some friends. Sure, she started gambling a little, but then she didn't look at it as gambling, it was just a little fun.

Things didn't change much when she became a detective, she still had to bail her sister out, who by then had prescription to mood stabilizers but preferred other drugs, Kim didn't even think it was a big deal.

Only moving to New York really changed things, being so far away. But it also had a price, and Amanda was paying it everyday.

So, no, she didn't have a good role model. But can she be one? This baby will have some screwed up genes, that's not a very good start. What if the baby will be like her father, or mother, or sister or like her?

Could she give the baby what it needs? What she never had? How would she know how to do that?

And Nick, he already has two children. What is he going to think? Amanda knew he was a good father but she also knew how hard it was for him to be apart from his kids, especially with Zara living in California.

He skyped with her almost everyday and tried to spend a lot of time with Gil. But Amanda knew he felt like it wasn't enough, he was afraid they'd feel abandoned, like he felt by his father, not because he left, which was a blessing, but because he hurt him and his mother.

Parents…could she be a good one?

Nick hoped Amanda would be back soon. He heard some rumors about her case and he was pretty curious about it. He thought he heard someone at the door but then it got quiet so he went over there and looked through the peephole.

It was Amanda, she was standing there staring at the door. Nick opened it and thought she looked a bit shocked to see him there.

"You okay?" he asked, wondering what was going on. She didn't answer but gave him a little smile as she walked in "Amanda?" he tried again.

"Sorry, I'm fine" she blurted and made her way to the kitchen.

She didn't seem fine to him so he followed her and watched her drinking some water. When she was done she gave him a bigger smile, still looking a bit…a bit what? Confused? Worried? Nick couldn't read it.

"You seem a bit…I don't know, what's going on?" he asked, should he be worried?

Amanda could see his expression change, she didn't want to worry him, but she suddenly felt like the words were so heavy and that she couldn't lift them.

She caressed his chick, felt his rough skin under her fingers. It made her feel better and then she felt even more so when he put his arms around her and embraced her.

"I'm pregnant" she whispered.

* * *

_This is the end of this story. I tried to write the conversation between them but it didn't work out so I think this is the best way to end this fic._

_But, I decided to turn this into a trilogy – so there will be another fic which will happen almost 9 months after this one. It will be more from Nick's point of view. But I think I should finish the other fic I'm working on right now (the return)._

_So I hope you liked the story, let me know._


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